Shogun Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Presque Isle

Third time in so I feel my review is a good indicator of what to expect- A solid 4/5 stars!

We were two tables of two, side by side tables are great as long as people are not talking on phones, etc as you are close. Bar and sushi table are at the focus, but hard to see the people making the sushi which can be fun- sit at the bar for a cool show! One table ordered sushi rolls and a teriyaki combo to share, we order 5 different sushi rolls all with different flavors. The food arrived fairly quickly considering it was packed for lunch- which is great to see! Friday before noon and almost all tables were busy and one hibachi table as well. The waitstaff was doing great, friendly, when we asked questions that they did not know the answer to, they went and found out what we needed to know rather quickly quickly. When we asked for suggestions on a mocktail, the waitress suggested something that we had never tried before before that was based with strawberries and ginger! It was refreshing, especially when paired with the Gyoza pork dumplings - tasty!

Everything was fresh and made to order, and the teriyaki combo was delicious and the person that ordered it was reluctant to share, even though it was supposed to be for the group! My only complaint would be the sushi rolls. I love sushi. I eat a lot of of it all over the US and Europe and my only complaint was that it all tasted the same. Between us there were seven different kinds of sushi rolls and if you close your eyes, you would have a hard time telling five of them apart. We ordered ones that were supposed to be spicy and they were not. The textures were all the same, and you didn’t get the crunch, spice, and coolness that you should get in every bite of sushi. We asked for extra spicy dipping sauce and even that was not spicy on its own. It was also a dollar extra for sauce and a dollar extra for the spicy mayo which we did not use either.

Five sushi rolls and two mock tails was a bit over $50 without the tip. That’s quite a bit for lunch for the average person out running errands. Granted it was a lot of food, but none of it went to waste!

Will definitely go back again and we’ll try other things because the food that people ordered around us, all smelled delicious and we are interested to try other options on the menu!

It still looks like the old restaurant, but there’s not much you could do with a room that size. They did everything they could to make it feel more intimate and less like a conference room and I think they succeeded with the way they set up the tables. This would be a great place to run out for a private party because it runs itself to move it within the restaurant. I could see having the wedding reception there very easily!

I give special shout out to the wait staff because they were doing their best in new surroundings, learning a new menu, with people that had a ton of questions, and with a restaurant that I don’t think planned on being this busy too soon.

Be patient with your waiters and waitresses, tip them well because they are doing the best they can, and if the food is slow, it’s because sushi rolls are made one at a time, and all of your food is made, and cooked to order, to your specifications!

It bothers me that people are complaining about a restaurant that has only been open a few days. If I had a restaurant that it only been open a few days and was that busy I would be jumping for joy! If you don’t want to go out and be nice. Stay home. Enjoy the sushi, definitely go to the hibachi if you can because the kids would enjoy the show as well as the adults, and support your local restaurants!

Much love in your...

UPDATE/SECOND VISIT: This restaurant went from bad, to worse. We decided to give it another chance but skipped hibachi for the regular menu. I ordered the shrimp lunch bento, and my husband ordered the chicken dinner bento. Since the sushi wasn't great on our first visit, I substituted the California roll for a salad. It pains me to say this, but every aspect of the meal was terrible. The dressing on the salad was less ginger and more mayo and salt. It had a weird after taste. The shrimp was cooked well, but seasoned with something so salty I couldn't eat it. The rice was just meh, the veggies burnt and bland and the shrimp dumplings were just a mushy mess. My husband felt the same way about his salad and veggies. His noodles were mushy and bland. His California roll tasted like old mush. Both of our soups tasted like salty water with weirdly chewy seaweed. His chicken was overcooked, salty and had a chemical taste he thought might be detergent. We definitely will not go back.

FIRST VISIT: The food was ok. We ordered a spicy tuna roll and the filling tasted old and really mushy. The hibachi was pretty good but the hibachi stations...

The food here was not something I would say is worth the price. It isn’t bad but it is not the quality you’d expect for the price. We’ve tried a couple of dishes from here, and the yakisoba was incredibly disappointing. Instead of using the type of noodles that you’d normally see in yakisoba, they used top ramen noodles. I didn’t expect it to be anything amazing considering that we’re in the county. But at least use the right type of noodle for the dish and go for something that isn’t literal .40 cent noodles. We also tried ordering takeout and they forgot over half of our order. We had to go back to get the rest.

This building is also the weirdest choice for a restaurant. The high ceilings have bright-white lighting and there are no acoustic blocks, so it is incredibly loud when it is busy. They need to fix the atmosphere of the place and make it a bit more inviting, right now it’s more like dining in a hospital cafeteria that has taller ceilings.

All in all, we don’t plan to go back, especially after the takeout experience. We’ll just continue going up to...